Reshma peeped inside her daughter’s room; she watched her sleep for a while and turned around to leave when she found Avilash standing in front of her.

“Why don’t you go inside?” He asked.

“She doesn’t want to see me.”

“Let me talk to her and -”

Reshma had left.

She had been in prison for years; Risha was just 6 years old when she left. Reshma couldn’t even say bye to her as she was in the hospital fighting trauma of the incident.

The day Reshma was freed from the prison, she’d expected to see her daughter waiting to meet her but Risha had left home before she arrived. Avilash had tried hard to cover it up, but eventually gave in to her continuous probing and told her that Risha refused to stay under the same roof with her.

Reshma lay down on her bed; these memories flashed before her eyes. All those torturous years in prison had made her stop shedding tears; She stared at the ceiling with a blank face.

After Reshma left, Avilash entered Risha’s room and sat on the bed. He looked at her for a while and said – “I know you’re awake, Risha.”

“Has she left, Papa?” Risha asked, not opening her eyes.

“Yes.”

Risha opened her eyes slowly.

“She’s your mother Risha! ”

“She’s a murderer…she didn’t think of her family before killing someone…she’s a cold-blooded killer.”

“That’s not right Risha…”

“Then tell me what’s right…who did she kill and why?”

Avilash remained silent for a while; taking a deep breath, he uttered, “You witnessed the murder taking place…the trauma partially erased your memory of the night and the counselling for the next few months made you believe it was a nightmare.”

“What! But I -”

“It’s time you knew everything…” Avilash took her hands and added, “let’s go.”

An hour later, Avilash pulled up in front of an old building. They got out of the car.

“You were only six…” Avilash said and taking her hands, walked towards the backside of the building.

He added, “He kidnapped you and threatened your mother to kill you if she didn’t call off her wedding.”

“Wedding!!!” Risha exclaimed.

They’d reached the backside of the building; Avilash pointed to the dark tunnel up ahead – “that’s where it took place.”

Risha repeated, “Wedding!…”

“She was going to marry me that day…she cancelled it and came running here to save you from her ex-husband and your biological father.”

Avilash looked at her and added, “His plan was to kill your mother, not you; he dragged her into this tunnel and tried to strangle her, but – ”

Risha stared blankly at the dark tunnel; the words echoed in her ears, but she hardly processed them.

“- you reached in time and knifed him in the hand; he lost his balance on the wet floor, hit his head on a heavy stone. When I reached here with the police, he was already dead and Reshma surrendered herself to the police.”

Avilash put her hand on Risha’s head and added, “Your mother made me promise to never tell you anything.”